1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the continuous conveying and breaking apart of fiber modules wherein the fiber material which is broken apart, or separated, from the module is then conveyed to subsequent fiber handling apparatus, such as a cotton gin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,003, issued to Lambert H. Wilkes and Joseph K. Jones on July 31, 1973, discloses a mechanized seed cotton handling apparatus wherein seed cotton from mechanical cotton harvesters is compacted onto a pallet. The compacted cotton may then be transported on a conventional flat-bed trailer to a cotton gin. Although this apparatus yields storage advantages in cotton fields and storage areas of cotton gins, in comparison with the earlier systems involving transportation and storage of uncompacted cotton, a problem exists with respect to feeding the compacted cotton into a cotton gin. For example, using this system it is necessary for workmen, using the conventional suction pipe for feeding cotton gins, to walk along the top of the compacted cotton and vacuum it into the cotton gin -- an extremely slow process due to the compacted nature of the cotton fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,018, issued to Lambert H. Wilkes, Gary L. Underbrink, and Joseph K. Jones on July 29, 1975, discloses an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,003, in an apparatus for continuously feeding compressed cotton carried by a pallet into a cotton gin, which includes a breaker device for facilitating the removal of compressed cotton from the pallet. The breaker device, consisting of a plurality of rotatably mounted spiral auger blades and spikes, is disposed near the end of a horizontal bed which has a plurality of powered and idler rollers supported therein. At one end of the bed, a rotating endless chain is provided for engagement with a hook carried by each pallet. In use, a conventional truck and flat-bed trailer, which is loaded with a pallet, is backed up to the end of the bed and the hook is attached to the endless chain which pulls the loaded pallet onto the bed. Then the powered rollers come into contact wih the pallet and convey it to the breaker device.
A major problem encountered in using this Wilkes et al feeding apparatus, or similar feeding apparatus, is the necessity for accurately aligning the loaded trailer with the end of the bed, so that the endless chain can be readily engaged by the pallet hook in order to pull the pallet onto the bed. Since the pallets used are normally 24 or 32 feet in length, the trailers used are approximately 30 or 38 feet in length. The difficulty of backing-up a 30 or 38 foot long trailer to the end of the bed, such that the pallet hook is accurately aligned with the endless chain, is readily apparent. This difficulty is further increased if the pallet is not placed on the trailer with its longitudinal axis parallel with that of the trailer -- a not infrequent occurrence.
Other factors have also been found to worsen this alignment problem. During the cotton harvesting season many cotton gins are operated on a 24 hour basis. Aligning a trailer with the bed at night or under adverse weather conditions, e.g., during a rain or dust storm, has been found to be quite difficult.
Another shortcoming of this Wilkes et al feeding apparatus is the amount of time lost by trucks which are waiting to unload their pallets, while another truck is attempting to align its trailer with the bed. Such unwanted delays in unloading the trailers further disrupt the desired continuous feeding of fiber material into the cotton gin, which increases the operating costs of the cotton gin.
Another problem found to exist in using this Wilkes et al feeding apparatus, or similar feeding apparatus, relates to its conveyor system. Although it is desired to have the loaded pallets in an end-to-end abutting relationship as they travel into the breaker device, such positioning is difficult to attain with the Wilkes et al apparatus because of inadequate speed control of the various conveyors. Additionally, the prior art systems have difficulty in continuously feeding compressed cotton into the breaker device fast enough to supply high-capacity cotton gins.
Accordingly, prior to the development of the present invention, there has been no method or apparatus available for efficiently conveying and breaking apart fiber modules which does not have an inherent alignment problem during the unloading of a trailer. Therefore, the art has sought an efficient method and apparatus for conveying and breaking apart fiber modules absent the problems of previously proposed feeding apparatus.